The state attorney general’s office yesterday brought fraud indictments against David Ibragimov, his son and son-in law — operators of dental clinics in Brooklyn, Queens and The Bronx.
The charges followed an investigation by The Post earlier this spring which revealed that the clinics hired street hustlers to drum up business by bribing Medicaid cardholders into at least pretending to undergo dental procedures.
As The Post reported, the touts were paid $15 per cardholder brought in, while the “patients” received $20 to $40 — and the clinics could make between $160 and $350 per visit from Medicaid billings.
The Ibragimov clan billed some $5.7 million over a three-year period.
Nobody knows how much Medicaid money is lost to thieves. The New York Times not long ago reported that annual fraud losses could run into the billions.
So it could be said that the alleged Ibragimov rip-offs don’t amount to much.
That would be wrong. Rip-offs are rip-offs, and the AG’s action is welcome.